Photo By Erin Thompson | FBI arrests Otto Gilbert in Augusta, Georgia, 17 April 1982.... read more read more
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by Fiona G. Holter, former USAICoE Staff Historian
17 APRIL 1982
On 17 April 1982, the U.S. Army Foreign Counterintelligence Activity (FCA) assisted in the arrest of Otto Gilbert, a Hungarian Military Intelligence Service (MNVK) agent, in Augusta, Georgia. The arrest culminated a four-year counterintelligence (CI) operation launched when the Hungarian tried to recruit an U.S. Army soldier visiting family in Budapest.
In December 1977, CWO3 Janos Szmolka, a CI agent with the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) in Mainz, West Germany, took leave to visit his family in Budapest, Hungary, for the Christmas holiday. Szmolka had immigrated to the U.S. and joined the U.S. Army after fleeing his native country during the Hungarian Uprising in 1956. His new identity as a naturalized U.S. citizen and his role in the Army made him a prime target for Hungarian intelligence.
At his mother’s home in Budapest, Szmolka was approached by a Hungarian official. Curious, Szmolka cautiously agreed to follow the man to a restaurant where he met Lajos Perlaki, a MNVK agent. Perlaki did not engage in pleasantries; instead he unashamedly cold-pitched an offer for Szmolka to work for the MNVK. Perlaki promised Szmolka favorable treatment of his family and offered to pay him generously if he would agree to provide Budapest with U.S. and NATO secrets.
Upon returning to Mainz, Szmolka alerted Army officials to the events that transpired in Budapest. The FCA, who managed CI and counterespionage cases, saw it as an opportunity to learn more about how the MNVK identified, targeted, and tried to recruit members of the U.S. military. The FCA placed CWO3 Szmolka as a double agent in what became a four-year CI operation.
While Szmolka was stationed in West Germany, he met with MNVK agents. They asked for copies of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice, training manuals for polygraph use, military police and criminal investigations procedures, and standard operating procedures for the CID detachment in Mainz. The more Szmolka pretended to be a “money-hungry turncoat,” the more higher-level information the Hungarians requested. What began as low-level espionage escalated as the foreign agency asked about U.S. nuclear capabilities and storage sites, deployment of new Pershing missiles to Western Europe, and information on cryptographic communications. At one point they offered Szmolka $20,000 to steal an Army cryptographic machine.
In December 1979, Szmolka was assigned to Fort Gordon, Georgia. The MNVK provided various communication channels he could use to provide updates on his ability to gather classified information. In March 1981, Szmolka, accompanied by FCA officials, returned to Europe to meet with Perlaki. He reassured his MNVK handlers of his continued loyalty by providing them sixteen rolls of photos of unclassified documents in exchange for $3,000.
Finally, in March 1982, the FCA forced the Hungarian’s hand by flushing out an agent. Szmolka reported he had obtained highly classified information and asked to meet. The MNVK responded that a representative would travel to meet him. On 17 April 1982, Szmolka met the MNVK agent, Otto Gilbert, at the Confederate monument in downtown Augusta. After receiving the materials from Szmolka, FCA counterparts at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) arrested Gilbert and charged him with espionage.
In the end, the FCA’s operation helped the U.S. learn about the Hungarians’ various methods, procedures, personalities, interests, communications, and other related information. The FCA credited CWO3 Szmolka as “an outstanding source” who “religiously follow[ed] his intelligence directions.”
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| Date Taken: | 04.17.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 04.17.2023 10:43 |
| Story ID: | 442727 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 379 |
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